Phil Cohen writes about Camden NJ - A City With A Lot Of Heart and A Whole Lot Of Soul

Thursday, April 14, 2008

The individual who is running as Der Fuehrer... make that the leader... well, it is a direct translation... in his quest for the nomination of the Democrat Party was quoted twice last week. The first quote by Barack Hussein Obama:

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Now understand that this was NOT supposed to be heard by me or you, the general public. They were addressed to the disgusting set of dupes, fellow travelers and co-conspirators who were in attendance at the event... I believe it was a fund-raiser... where he made the statement.

The second quote was last Saturday, in Indiana and on national television, where he tried to justify his remarks... and in the minds of anyone who still has one of their own and who can read, is even more infuriating. The italics are mine:

"I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter. They are angry."

Now, for the record..... I do not own guns, am not at all religious, have no particular people antipathy to people who are not like me (probably a lot less than most PC-infused "progressives", am the child of immigrants, and am not particular scared of free trade. I don't live in a small town, but in one of the largest metropolitan areas of our United States of America. I'm not particularly bitter.... my wife and my dogs I believe think of me as rather a sweet guy.

I am however, mad as hell. Bitter, no... that denotes disappointment, and I'm not disappointed at all. The world does not own me a living. I'm not even disappointed with Obama... I EXPECT this sort of nonsense from him. When my expectations are fulfilled, I'm not at all disappointed. I am, however justifiably angry. Angry that Obama and his handlers have the gall to try and take me and the rest of the country for fools.

Critics of Obama, including Hilary Rodham Clinton (see, I'm also rather fair!), likely Republican nominee John McCain and other GOP officials "pounced- portraying the Harvard-educated lawyer as snooty."

"Snooty" is not the word I would use. My brother and sister are both Harvard-educated lawyers. Obama isn't "snooty", he's simply WRONG. Wrong for me, wrong for you, wrong for America, wrong for Western Civilization, wrong for the planet....hell, he is even wrong for economically disadvantaged members of certain ethnic groups who make up less then a majority of the general population of the United States. He's even wrong for my dogs and dead people. He's wrong for everyone who ever put on a military or police uniform, a fire hat, or volunteered to work on an ambulance squad. He's wrong for scoutmasters and Girl Scout troop leaders. He's wrong..... wrong beyond all degree of forgiveness... for every man and woman who lost there lives while serving in the military during peace or war, and their families, friends, and loved ones. He's even wrong for the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Ferenghi, and E.T.

I'm mad as hell because the last thing I need is some know-it-all who thinks he knows everything about anything and worse yet, believes he has been anointed with special knowledge and insight to impose solutions... mostly involving regulating MY life to an intolerable extent while picking my pocket..... talking down at me.

Obama said... and if I believe anything this man has ever said, and that ain't much... "I said something that everybody knows is true...". Exactly "who" is his "everybody"? Not mine, and that is an undeniable truth.

Hilary Clinton was right the other day when she described John Kerry as being seen "as being elitist and out of touch with the values and the lives of millions of Americans,"

The reason, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, if you happen to be reading this... he was perceived "as being elitist and out of touch with the values and the lives of millions of Americans," is because he was, as far back as 1971 in the case of Mr. Kerry.

I don't cling to guns... I don't own any, yet. I MIGHT want to, some day. I am not religious, but I cling to the right to put an American flag outside of my house on Memorial Day, July 4th, or any time I might feel the urge. I don't particularly dislike people who are different than me, but I refuse to accept flagrant abuses of civil and criminal law as culturally justifiable. Hell, I might want to eat a pastry made with trans-fat, have a six-pack without spending an extra $1.80 a six-pack in "beer tax", have more than two children without being called "a show-off", or smoke a cigar while sitting on a park bench.

And I'm mad as hell when the most intolerant people this side of the Taliban and Hamas claim to be "progressive"... I'm mad as hell that Jimmy Carter gets Secret Service protection when he travels to Syria to get down on his knees to service Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists.... I'm mad as hell when self-congratulatory narcissists have the nerve to tell me that I'm bitter and clinging to the past when I refuse to swallow the sewage they are spewing as fact, creed, religion, science, and commandments by the deities.

I'm angry as hell. Obama and the Obamistas, Obamanoids, or Obamanations might just seize control of the Presidency this time around..... and when that happens, look for control on free speech and freedom of assembly not unlike those impose by Chavez in Venezuela.... but he will never have my allegiance. My allegiance has been pledged to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Today's headline in the Courier-Post: 10 key S.J. Dems swing to Obama

God help this country. I've only voted Republican for president once, in '04... because you DO NOT change horses in the middle of a war... and because as a veteran I would never vote for John Kerry for anything, except perhaps to be convicted as a traitor if I was serving on a jury. Still, I might have gone back to the Democrats this time with Hilary Clinton.... the REAL election says more about the candidates than the primaries.

As an independent who is socially liberal (pro-choice, pro-gay rights), fiscally conservative, and who wholeheartedly understands that we ARE in a war, and have BEEN in a war since that bungling boob Jimmy Carter began pandering to the Islamists back in 1979, I still might have voted for Hiliary Clinton if she showed me something during the campaign..... because she, like Bill, at least might try to work from somewhere near the center. Obama does not, and Ms. Redd's belief that she brings people together is dead wrong. Hilary may be divisive on personality... Obama is divisive on POLICY, and that had better be what people base their vote on, or else our elections will have become a personality contest, and the dumbing down of America will have become complete.

Likewise, Donald Norcross states that Obama can "unite us as a country"..... I think not. He may have energized the far left of the Democrats, got the kids going, and got the baby boomers who are still grieving over Bobby Kennedy or what they THINK John F. Kennedy was.... Obama and JFK are as different policy-wise as night and day.... that is NOT the whole country. Hilary Clinton I may have considered voting for. Obama..... no way, no chance, and not in this lifetime..... well, maybe if he serves 2 terms in the Senate and ESTABLISHES A TRACK RECORD of voting that I can find some logic in.

In this election, with the country (and the western world) at war with Islam... no way. Hilary might turn into Margaret Thatcher, and get tough when the country is attacked, as Thatcher did when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. Obama? Well, it's like this.... while there is GENOCIDE going on in Darfur, he's on record as stating the Palestinians are the most oppressed people on earth. Barak, see ya, and I wouldn't want to be ya.

The left-wing of the Democrats have all but chased Joe Lieberman, another socially liberal but fiscally prudent man and their 2004 vice-presidential candidate, out of the party. The further left the party goes, the less comfortable many people who care about the country and who vote regularly are becoming with it.

Phil Cohen

June 25, 2007

It's all over folks, not just for Camden, but for virtually every other urban center in this country. Forget about redevelopment, recovery, and all the other buzzwords thrown about to sell you and John Q. Public on that notion.... and you can throw in a few suburbs as well. Read the following, and weep. Weep, because the rule of law is all but dead and buried. Political Correctness generally doesn't allow for you to be told this, and I'm surprised that the Courier allowed this to be printed.... but here it is, from today's paper:

......nearly three years ago when the department was plagued by a clearance rate on shootings that hovered around 10 percent, said Lt. Orlando Cuevas. It's now around 40 percent, well above the national average of 28 percent.

Now this translates that 9 out of 10 homicides in Camden were going unsolved, and now it's about 6 out of 10..... and that's no call for celebration... that is pathetic. Nationally, 7 out of 10 homicide cases aren't being cleared...... and the government wants to take guns OFF the street? With statistics like this, one would have to be quite irrational NOT to arm one's self..... the police cannot protect you.... the criminals are not intimidated by them. The police are there to clean up AFTER the fact, and that is far too late.

There are several questions that need to be asked after reading the article below.

Robert Morton said his son often brought broken guns to him, asking him to help fix them. He didn't.

One is why when the son "often brought broken guns to him", he did not immediately bring in law enforcement?

At 14, Fred Morton asked for his share of the monthly Supplemental Security Income check that provided extra money for his ADHD. He used it to buy his first package of drugs, his father said, and kept that part of his life from his sister, who helped raise him.

Why was a 14 year old given part of a social security check by his parent or guardian to use as capital for his drug business?

He inherited a Camden drug set at 15 when his sister's boyfriend spent nearly a year in county jail. Two years later, he was working with a "stick-up crew," robbing drug dealers and store owners.

And perhaps most important, in the long run, is why the Courier is painting a person who was committing armed robberies as well as dealing drugs as a victim, as a young man with potential. It is as clear as the four noses on Mount Rushmore that the only potential this person had was the potential to hurt an innocent person.

Camden Courier-Post June 25, 2007

Wall of silence hurts victims' families

By LEO STRUPCZEWSKI
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN-

Investigators pushed mugshots across the desk and Fred Morton shook his head.

"Don't know 'em," he said.

"You sure?" his father, Robert, asked, sitting next to him at the Camden Police Department. "You sure you don't know him?"

Another head shake.

"Don't know 'em."

By all accounts, Fred Morton, 17, was deep in the game. He began selling drugs in Lindenwold at 14, his father said. He inherited a Camden drug set at 15 when his sister's boyfriend spent nearly a year in county jail. Two years later, he was working with a "stick-up crew," robbing drug dealers and store owners.

Now, on a Saturday afternoon in November, Fred Morton was sitting with police, but not because he had been arrested. He had witnessed a homicide.

His sister's boyfriend, Lavar Dunlap, was dead. Shot in the back of the head while sitting in the passenger seat of a green Pontiac Grand Am. Fred Morton was the driver.

City police have long battled the code of the street, where fear of retaliation or distrust of police often prevent residents from cooperating in criminal investigations. Law enforcement often uses financial rewards to coax witnesses to come forward with information, typically in high-profile cases.

Camden police are taking a new approach to an old idea. Last month, the city's shooting response team began offering $250 rewards for information leading to arrests and convictions. Police hope the approach will slow shootings they say are often connected to or lead to other crimes. In the meantime, Camden Police Executive Arturo Venegas and Acting Camden County Prosecutor Joshua Ottenberg are trying to win over more residents with increased community outreach.

It won't be easy, they say.

For Robert Morton and his daughter Doris, the sting of silence is all too real.

Twelve days after Dunlap, Doris' boyfriend, was killed, city park workers found Fred Morton's body out in the open at Van Hook Park. His throat had been slit.

Members of the Camden Police Department said Morton was killed because people thought he was talking to investigators. On Nov. 20, officials arrested Rodney Jamal "Petey" Daniels, 20, of Camden, in connection with Dunlap's slaying.

It was an abrupt end to a life relatives say was troubled, but also promising.

"We always argued about it," Doris Morton said. "He would promise me, "You know, I'm not out there. I'm going to do better now. I'm just out there chilling.' "

But the streets were always too much of a lure, his father said.

"The fast money," Robert Morton said. "Cash."

The teenager, described as small for his age, felt further empowered with a gun in his hands. Robert Morton said his son often brought broken guns to him, asking him to help fix them. He didn't.

"He brought in a .22 Smith & Wesson long barrel. It's a nice-looking gun. It's clean," Robert Morton said. "He liked that gun like it was a girlfriend or something. I could see this in his eyes, when he talked to me, when he held it."

At times, it seemed like Fred would fulfill his promise to his sister. He worked at a local store stocking shelves and taking inventory. He trained to become a lifeguard. He committed himself to school. He found the basketball court again instead of the corner. He spent time with his nephew, now 3.

But he left the job after fighting with a co-worker and school sputtered, leaving Fred right where he left off.

On that Saturday in November, Fred sat stone-faced as his father worked with investigators to get him to cooperate. The father said he recognized some of the mugshots being pushed in front of his son and knew he recognized them. Still, his son would never talk to police. He promised as much before.

It was a stubbornness that infuriated his father and left his sister wishing her brother handled things differently.

"If you knew who did it, let (police) take care of it," Doris Morton said. "I don't need to lose two people."

Despite the fact Fred never cooperated, police Capt. Joseph Richardson said people thought he had. His death, which remains unsolved, was meant to intimidate others from talking with police, Richardson said.

"I don't know who they thought he was talking to," he said. "But he wasn't talking to us."

Why someone was killed -- along with the rumors that accompany it -- carries a lot of weight on the street, Richardson he said.

To combat the problem, the city's shooting response team, made up of members of the police department, prosecutor's office and state police, are now offering the $250 reward to encourage people to cooperate.

The shooting response team was founded nearly three years ago when the department was plagued by a clearance rate on shootings that hovered around 10 percent, said Lt. Orlando Cuevas. It's now around 40 percent, well above the national average of 28 percent.

Six to eight detectives are on call 24/7 to respond to reports of shots fired. They flood the area, Cuevas said, canvassing for information and witnesses. Cuevas said those who see shootings are more willing to talk immediately after an incident. Having extra detectives allows the team to capitalize on that, he said. Before the response team, only one detective responded to shootings.

"It's such a serious crime and so many other things are linked to it," Cuevas said. "The timing was right to do something."

The $250 rewards come from state police funds. A figure on how many rewards have been given out was not available.

Officials said money has proved in the past to be a motivator, but the mother of one of the city's recent homicides isn't so sure.

Rosalynn Glasco's son, Salahuddin Igwe, was gunned down in the city's Whitman Park section June 17. Igwe, 16, was standing on a corner in the 1200 block of Thurman Street. No one has been arrested in connection with the killing.

Glasco, who now lives in Lindenwold, said she grew up in Camden and knew about the problems on Thurman Street before her son was killed.

"Some of those people that live on those streets . . . (are) scared," she said. "Every time they turn around, there's a killing."

Glasco said the promise of money isn't enough to turn those residents -- or herself -- into a cooperating witness for investigators.

What's needed, she said, is the ability to shield people from the retaliation most expect for cooperating with police.

Glasco said she hopes someone will come forward in her son's case, because she wants closure. But it's not something she would do.

"Snitching or telling on people, I don't involve myself with stuff like that," she said. "Where is $250 going to get you? It's not going to take you far. That ain't enough to take your or your family out of the city."

Ottenberg said officials recognize the problem and are exploring ways to combat it. A grant application is awaiting approval to provide witness protection at the most local of levels.

The grant, part of the Attorney General's Project Safe Neighborhoods program, would allow law enforcement to change people's cell phone numbers, the locks on their doors and their work schedules. In some cases, witnesses will be moved on a whim.

Ottenberg said there are elaborate systems to protect witnesses at both the federal and state levels, but nothing has been done at the local level.

"We will have something that we can use at our fingertips," Ottenberg said. "We really don't have the facilities to do this quickly and easily at this point."

In the meantime, a new program sponsored by the state's Attorney General, Operation Ceasefire, trains residents on ways to take more active roles in their communities while countering the day-to-day fear in which they live.

Ottenberg's office has also created monthly meetings between police and residents in the city's four districts. The meetings provide a confidential setting for residents to voice concerns and police to build intelligence.

"We're trying to unlock the pandora's box of political power in the neighborhood," Ottenberg said. "It's slow in this city."

At some point civil society either puts this down once and for all, or surrenders and lets public order disintegrate. It's not just Camden, it's Willingboro, Winslow, Beverly and Burlington. And it will soon be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Phil Cohen

June 10, 2007

Why was the "Greatest generation" so great? Among other reasons because America, our great nation. knew to fuse many into one. English would be the language taught, the common language of education, commerce, and government

Today we are in REAL trouble, because the idea of common language has been pitched out the door by special interest groups and to be perfectly frank, well intentioned fools. It has been proven over and over again, throughout this country, that children whose first language is not English can... and in fact MUST... be taught in English. We have had many times in the past 200+ years periods where in many of the households in this country English was the second language, but we never weakened, never lost our minds to the effect of sacrificing "One Nation" on the perversity that race hustlers and crybabies call "diversity".

Camden Courier-Post (Morning Post) March 29, 1930

18 FOREIGN LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN VINELAND

Vineland, March 27.-In the first six grades of schools here 50 percent of the pupils live in homes where languages other than English are spoken, according to figures made public today by Supervising Principal H. W. Weidner.

Each of the 2554 pupils in the lower grades were asked this year to tell what language is commonly spoken at home. In compiling the answers given by the pupils Professor Weidner was surprised to find that 18 foreign languages are spoken in the homes of families of this community whose children attend the Vineland schools.

Italian ranks next to English, according to the statistics, with Hebrew, Russian and German next in order. French, Austrian, Polish, Ukranian, Swedish, Greek, Spanish, Swiss, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Dutch, Finnish, Danish and Welsh are all on the list. The number of pupils in whose homes the various languages are spoken is given in the following tabulation: Italian, 923; Jewish, 91; Russian, 78; German, 49; French, 44; Austrian, 27; Polish, 15; Ukranian, 8; Swedish, 7; Greek, 6; Spanish, 6; Swiss, 3; Lithuanian, 2; Hungarian, 2; Dutch, 2; Finnish, 1; Danish, 1; Welsh, 1.

I am perfectly sure that Vineland, Cumberland County, and South Jersey did not fall into a state of anarchy because of the above situation. I am also sure that the teachers and administrators had to work harder, and some individual students were at a disadvantage. That's life, there is no level playing field in nature. However, I am equally sure, perhaps even more so, that there were far more successes with the children of these "English as a Second Language" homes than failures.

High standards bring a reality that all will not make the grade. Lowering the standard in an effort to make thngs easier on those who cannot achieve, to right perceived past wrongs, or for any other "feel good" reason including monkeying with the numbers to show an artificial "improvement" is intellectually dishonest and only serves to ensure inferior results.

Phil Cohen

May 8, 2007

In Today's Courier-Post:

Alleged racist talk probed

By LISA GRZYBOSKI
Courier-Post Staff

An alleged racist conversation between two top Camden County Jail officials that was inadvertently broadcast over one of the county's public safety radio channels last week is now under investigation.

Law enforcement officers who were tuned to the channel Wednesday afternoon allegedly heard Deputy Warden Anthony Pizarro and Capt. Ronald Barr, who are both black, use racist slurs and expletives to describe white corrections officers at the county jail.

The alleged 20-minute tirade occurred in a county vehicle and was prompted when a white police officer stopped Pizarro and Barr to issue a traffic ticket, said corrections officers who have requested anonymity for fear they could lose their jobs by speaking out about the incident.

Pizarro and Barr apparently didn't know they had keyed the vehicle's microphone and were broadcasting their conversation countywide on a channel used by the corrections department, sheriff's office, park police, prosecutor's office and Merchantville police, the officers said.

The lengthy conversation tied up the channel and prevented other officers from using it to communicate on the job, they said.

Pizarro denied the accusations when contacted at his home Monday.

"There's an element in the department that, for whatever reason, they've got an ax to grind and they made these accusations," he said. "If we said what people say we said, we would have been suspended immediately."

"There's an investigation and the truth will come out. I'm not worried about it at all," said Pizarro, who noted he's been told the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and the corrections department's internal affairs division are investigating the matter.

"They've taken something that was an accident and they've blown it up into something that's not true," Pizarro said. "They've crossed a line."

Why should ANYONE be surprised by this? This kind of abusive language is all over FM and AM radio, in local government, and in just about every other venue....

Why? Because people... just about ALL people.... are just plain MEAN, no matter who they are, where they come from, and what they look like.

GOOGLE "Blacks can't be racist" if you are in denial about this.... then ask any Asian-American business person with a store in an urban area about it... better yet, spend some time, go to one, and then WATCH AND LISTEN.

One might Politically Correct censor all "offensive" language in public out of existence, but one cannot Politically Correct human nature.

So what's to be done? Not much, to be real. One can spend millions rebuilding sand dunes at the shore..... the ocean pays no attention.

May 5, 2007

About the Sears Building in Camden:

Sears building's fate on line

By ALAN GUENTHER

The stakes will be high tonight as preservationists fight to save the old Sears building at 1300 Admiral Wilson Blvd.

The Campbell Soup Co. says it may abandon expansion plans and leave the city if it doesn't receive permission from the city's Historic Preservation Commission to tear the building down.

At risk is Campbell's plan to build a $72 million world headquarters, along with 1,700 local jobs and more than $1.3 million the company pays in lieu of taxes to the city each year.

Until the end of January I worked for the Housing Authority of the City of Camden inside of the Sears Building five days a week. The roof leaked to the point of collapse. So much water came through in June that the Authority had to clear out of two thirds of the building. The carpets were soaked, the landlord, represented by Brian Jackson, did nothing. The County and State authorities were called in, air quality tests were made, a deadline to evacuate was given and finally the Authority evacuated the building on the last two days of January.

The Housing Authority, which means you the taxpayer, took a real beating because the landlord did not take care of the building. The public at large took a beating, becasue the owner of a historic landmark let it fall into a state where now it is a public health menace.... the landlord neglected a "public trust".

Now let's get real. "Dr. Denim" is NOT coming to Camden. The cost to make the Sears building fit for human occupation is far more than whatever profit he could possibly recoup in a reasonable time. The truth of the matter is that he has an option on the building and is trying to extort $5,000,000 out of Campbell Soup, while portraying himself as someone who wants to invest in Camden. What a pathetic lie that is.

While the preservationists have a valid point about the Sears Building being historic, the building is in such a state of disrepair that the benefit derived from keeping it has greatly diminished.

To hold on to an empty building that will NEVER be reoccupied (unless millions of dollars fall from the sky and aren't snatched up by the same crew who took the last $175,000,000 that came to Camden) is simply not justifiable. To lose one of the few taxpayers of import that the city still has is simply WRONG..

Of course, the City Historic Commission voted unanimously to reject Campbell's plan. Typical.

December 17, 2006

There little more disgusting than to see people use the dead for there own personal gain. It gets worse when the dead being used... well abused is the better term... are Camden Fire Fighters.

The Courier-Post ran a story a few days ago about a lawsuit brought by an African-American fire fighter's organization, the local chapter of the NAACP , and allegedly Camden's Hispanic fire fighter's organization. The following day the Courier printed a retraction, as the Camden City Latino Professional Fire Fighters, representing 75 of Camden's Hispanic fire fighters, made it clear that they are NOT part of this lawsuit. The suit alleges that Chief Marini engaged in a racist conspiracy in the design of the monument honoring those Camden Fire Fighters who gave their lives in the line of duty.

Sadly, whoever writes the Courier's Sunday editorials does not read the Courier themselves, as they left that retraction conveniently out of their lead editorial. Pathetic at best, intentionally irresponsible at worse. Why am I not surprised?

What is it all about?

Apparently two disgruntled African-American fire fighters brought suit a few years back charging that their rights had been violated. They were awarded damages of I believe $1,300,000, but unfortunately for them but fortunately for you and I who pay taxes, this judgment was set aside. This decison, currently under appeal, left the two complainants quite unhappy, to say the least.

If their lawsuit was really about righting wrongs, I'd have some sympathy, but their subsequent actions disclose their motives. They should be should be ashamed of themselves, but they have no shame, with them. It's NOT about the public good, its not about respect for the dead, its about money and power, and they do not care what damage to the community is caused by their actions.

The fire fighters memorial was not done built with public funds, as I am given to understand it. I believe the monument was commissioned and designed by private parties, some of whom were fire fighters and former fire fighters, and at least two men who were civilians. The monument was raised and design by men of good will and integrity, with not a breath of bias towards anyone. F

Here is a disgusting fact I've been keeping under my hat. The two complainants... lowlifes is a better word... threatened to picket and disrupt the dedication ceremony for the monument by harassing the family members of the fallen firefighters, many of whom were elderly. That is about as low as it gets.

FACT: The monument was built years ago, and was being kept in storage while a suitable site was being decided upon.

If this lawsuit concerning the Fire Memorial was about genuine community concern, and Kelly Francis of Camden's NAACP gets no pass on this either, any issues regarding the monument could have been settled behind closed doors. As a point of FACT, the monument was relocated shortly before the ceremony to make both sides more visible to the street. Shrubbery and decor was also placed on both sides of the monument to emphasize that there were fallen firefighters named on both sides. As far as the actual monument is concerned, this was settled months ago among all parties genuinely interested in the civic good.

This suit is not about the civic good, however. It is about the ambitions and greed of a few who put there own wants, whims, and desires above all, and who do not care what damage is done to the Fire Department, the City, or the community as a whole. Their what can only be described as disgusting tactic of making a racial issue out of the efforts of men and women of good will to honor those who died while serving the community dead is appalling. It's another sad day for Camden. Once I would wonder why people from outside of the city want nothing to do with us. Today, for the first time in my life, I'm beginning to understand.

So lets get down to brass tacks. The Courier-Post's story is a load of hogwash. The Courier has the story DEAD wrong, and obviously hasn't spoke to anyone who was involved in the fundraising and design of the monument. This is journalistic negligence of the worst kind, but not surprising.

The FACTS of the matter are as such. Two plaintiffs against the City had their settlement overturned, and are looking at receiving not one thin dime. The Latino Fire Fighters are not part of the lawsuit... the Courier printed a retraction the day after the story broke.

That two or three disgruntled individuals... and I'm being charitable... would stir racial dicord for personal gain is awful. That others and the Courier to jump on the bandwagon without doing the due diligence is irresponsible, at best. Once again Truth, the City of Camden, and the general public have been poorly served.

May 31, 2006

It's been about 9 months since I posted anything to this page. A lot has happened of course in Camden and in the world that I would like to comment about. On much of it I've had to hold my words... in the "politically correct" world of 2006, I have to watch my ass, so to speak. I'm a government worker, and it's pretty obvious that if I exercised my rights to speak freely, SOMEONE would find an excuse to see that I joined the ranks of the unemployed. This I cannot afford at the present time. However, on July 1, 2015 I can retire from my job, and will I ever air it out then!

So many subjects to write about, the world being in turmoil as it is. I'm going to present a thought here that some may find upsetting, and some may find offensive. Don't take it personally.

I know and have known many people who are deeply religious, and they are all right by me. Personally, I find absolutely no comfort in ritual, but I understand that many do. It's a hard world, and I don't begrudge anyone following whatever path they choose to spiritual peace.

On the other hand, a great many of the planet's problems in this day and age can be laid right at the foot of organized religion.... an oxymoron if ever there was one, methinks, but that is another topic. Terrorism, overpopulation, genocide, and human slavery... all conditions that exist on Planet Earth at the moment, and all religious endorsement. Not good at all, no sir!

The problem isn't the "religion" per se, it's the "organized". People are so easily moved by faith. There are so many opportunities for people of low character- political and financial hustlers, and sexual predators to name a few- to use religion as a tool for personal gain. The "charity hustle" I find particularly vile.

This is not a new problem, it has been going on for a LONG time, from the beginning of recorded history, in fact. To prove that however, I am not going to go back that far, rather, I am going to the editorial page of the Camden Courier-Post, on October 21, 1931. The title of the editorial is NO MEANER RACKET. As they say at the poker table, read 'em and weep.

NO MEANER RACKET!

There are certain specimens of homo sapiens of whom it is difficult to speak calmly, men so low in the scale of civilized values that one thinks of them instinctively in reptilian rather than human terms.

Among such men are the charity racketeers.

There is no meaner racket than that which preys upon the generosity of one man toward the need of another.

There is no more despicable trade than that which consists of lying to arouse human sympathy and betray that sympathy for a few coins.

The latest charity racket to be exposed is a typical example.

Collectors were hired by its presiding genius, one Cavalluci, without serious discrimination.

Their divvy was 50 percent. Ten percent was paid the manager of each branch "mission"- what vile mockery!- while the central office, operated in Philadelphia, managed to worry along with the remaining 40 percent.

Whether any of this money ever went to the needy no one seems to know.

Certainly none was distributed through the Camden "mission," and the little work that was done consisted of distributing loaves of bread donated by a bakery.

In any event, the amount passed on for actual relief work must have been so small as to be negligible.

Most amazing is the Philadelphia District Attorney's office in its attitude that there are no laws under which prosecution can be brought. That the so-called public protector of a great city should confess helplessness before this obvious racket is an intolerable situation.

The whole scheme is nothing more nor less than a swindle. It must be dealt with as such. Pennsylvania, we hope, will be merciless in dealing with these vultures who have practiced fraud in the name of charity, at time when charity is a most urgent need.

In olden days the managers of such an enterprise would have been ridden outside town for a coat of tar and feathers. Such salutary punishments not being in vogue today, we hope that the equivalent will be dealt out to them without delay.

August 27, 2005

This letter was printed in today's Courier-Post. It was, however, heavily edited. I am posting the entire letter. What the Courier printed is in BLUE, and one word that they added is in RED. While I'm quite flattered that the Courier printed the letter, I believe that the editing of it deflects the point that I was trying to establish, that Ms. Sheehan is either a dupe or a willing partner to those who mean America no good. She's either a fool or a traitor.... and judging by her close association with attorney Lynn Stewart, convicted Of Aiding Terrorist Activity on February 10th of this year. Stewart was convicted on conspiracy charges of aiding and abetting terrorism, of defrauding the U.S. government and of violating a government Bureau of Prisons Special Administrative Order (SAM) when she released a press statement from her 1995 client, the Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rachman. For Sheehan to claim that she is a non-partisan is silly. Her record speaks for itself. Her abuse of her son's sacrifice is particularly egregious.

Regarding Cindy Sheehan and her demonstration outside the Bush ranch in Texas, I agree with President Bush's position. Cindy Sheehan appears to be exploiting her son’s death for her own misguided political views. There is precedent for this, it HAS happened before. Joseph Goebbels and his wife murdered their own children at the end of WWII, Jim Jones and David Koresh used the lives of children for a political statement, and most recently, the father of Nicholas Berg in a manner most foul and shameful attempted to blame the beheading of his son by Islamofascist terrorists on the government of the United States.

In a dangerous world, over the last 100 years several hundred thousand sets of parents have lost sons AND daughters in defense of our nation and our way of life. Having lost a son, I can empathize with their grief in a way those who haven't lost children cannot. Grief, however, does not give license to advance one’s politics, grief does not qualify one as an expert in world affairs. Grief does not give one permission to give aid and comfort to the enemies of this country in time of war.

Sheehan said her piece, and had her moment in the media spotlight... a moment that I will allow that she may have been entitled to. For her, and those who are funding her, to carry on beyond that goes beyond the personal realm to the political one, and must be seen for what it is.

The notion that American citizens would place personal political gain over the national good in time of war is quite disturbing.

During World War II, in Camden County alone, no less than FIVE families lost two sons... in one case twins. Can you (anyone) honestly see President Roosevelt meeting with anyone picketing his home saying, "bring back our boys from the Pacific, the Japanese were entitled to bomb Pearl Harbor, it was all America's fault"? I surely hope that you cannot... but I guarantee you that in 2005 America there are those who can. As the saying goes, "the world will always be full of useful idiots".

Phil Cohen
Camden NJ

July 5, 2005

This is a letter I wrote to the editor of the Courier-Post late in June, after they got all hot and bothered becasue three legislators from North Jersey stepped in and sued to prevent a needle exchange...make that needle giveaway.... for drug addicts could be started in Camden and Atlantic City- a stupid, valueless, and meritless idea if ever there was one. Where were our local State legislators on this? Obviously NOT protecting you, me, our parents, children, homes, pets, and property.

Letters to the Editor – Camden Courier-Post- June 30, 2005

Regarding needle-exchange, it is completely erroneous to characterize the legislators who had the guts to stand in the way of a foolish policy as a “small and vocal group” that is “doing a tremendous disservice to the people of their communities”.

They are, rather, courageous defenders of the silent majority of decent, hard-working, NON-CRIMINAL people who live in Atlantic City and Camden, who do not want to see their towns turned into the heroin theme park of South Jersey. They stood up when the those who are supposed to be representing the Camden and Atlantic County constituencies DID NOT, and they should be applauded.

Having lost loved ones to AIDS, I am as sympathetic and aware of the dangers of the disease as anyone else. On the other hand, as one who has lived in Camden since the mid-1970s and raised children here, it is equally if not more important to discourage drug use and to combat criminal behavior by any means necessary.

It’s quite interesting that suburban legislators and a suburban newspaper are quite excited about the prospect of a needle exchange in Camden. If needle exchange is such a good idea, if the motives behind this are so completely altruistic, why not host the needle exchange at the Tavistock Country Club, where they have lots of room. Or at the Echelon mall in Voorhees, badly in need of tenants. The new Cherry Hill Library has lots of room- why not needle exchange at that site? The drug-users could take advantage of the opportunities offered by the library, and perhaps turn a new page in their lives (pun intended).

If as you say, AIDS and other fatal diseases are exacting a terrible toll in impoverished communities in New Jersey, anyone with an ounce of intellectual integrity will acknowledge that drug use and criminal behavior have exacted and continue to exact a toll that is far, far worse, a toll that affects not just the immediate victims, but the entire region.

Phil Cohen
Camden NJ

June 16, 2005

SHAME on the Courier-Post, a once-great (it was a long time ago) newspaper that has exploited the crisis in health care that affects ALL Americans of modest means by framing it in racial term in order to "sex up" the story to boost newspaper sales. The lack of affordable health care affects EVERYONE, and is a serious problem. Nowhere near as serious to American society as a whole as the continued race-baiting for political and economic gain that has the potential to turn America into Bosnia. That the further you go down the economic means scale the less health care one gets is indisputable..... I think that also as a rule affects the number of fur coats and yachts one has, too. That this is a crisis that has nothing to do with race and everything to do with a HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY determined to skim profits off the top of the system is equally indisputable. A little discussed fact... that the Courier and most choose to conveniently ignore.... is that mostly white Appalachia.... the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky... had and has so much poverty and so little infrastructure that the Federal government set up a boatload of programs during the Great Society years in the sixties, including VISTA.... sort of an in-country Peace Corps.. to address the many problems there. Overall, little has changed in Appalachia, just as little changed for the better in the cities. There still are not enough jobs, not enough schools, and not enough doctors to properly serve the population.

The basic rule.... going back I think to the Roman Empire...or perhaps the Sumerians... is "money talks". Not fair or nice, but pretty much universal. That is one fact of life that is not going to go away.

What diseased and disgusting thing has emerged to a greater degree in recent times than in the past however, is the EXPLOITATION of racial and ethnic differences for short-term gain. The Cruz-Perez campaign in Camden did so, and the were horribly wrong for doing so. I believe it was Councilman Jenkins who said after the election that it was time for the healing to begin. I say, that if the Cruz-Perez campaign had been at all responsible and had IN FACT cared at all about the future of the city and and the future of this city's children it would NEVER have taken the route it did. To its credit, the Courier offered some criticism, albeit somewhat muted, about this during the election.

You would think however, that a newspaper supposedly dedicated to a high journalistic standard would perform better. The Courier once again has chosen to "sex up" a story to sell newspapers.... and it is simply unacceptable. That the by "spinning racial" in this article resent, distrust and hatred between ethnic groups will only grow is obvious. Shame on the Courier-Post for shortsighted and sleazy behavior, and its complete abandonment of any pretense of concern about the overall civic health of American society..

April 22, 2005

In today's Courier-Post 'Letters to the Editor' section . . .

Camden Is...

What is Camden?" (letters, April 19).

The writer of that letter was a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School who lives in Newtown Square, Pa. He asserts that Camden is a "giant feeding trough," where a few villains profit and no one speaks for "the people," who are defined as being "the children, the old, the impoverished and the disabled."

As one who has lived in the city since the mid-1970s, worked and raised two sons who are drug-free, crime-free, in school or working and with no children born out of wedlock, I, in the spirit of education, would like to answer the question, "What is Camden?"

Camden - the real Camden, not the urban decay movie set - is working families, homeowners and small business owners. Camden is, and always has been, diversity in action - a multi-ethnic city that has always been enhanced by people coming to this country to partake in the American dream. Camden is civil servants and school teachers, mothers and mechanics, bartenders and barbers, secretaries and shopkeepers. Camden is a city of tens of thousands of decent people whose reputation is smeared by the actions of several hundred knuckleheads who, in a less permissive age, would have been shown the error of their ways in an effective and expeditious manner.

Camden is where my heart and the hearts of thousands of residents and ex-residents live. Camden is far from the most dangerous city in America, but it is arguably the most loved.

If anyone is interested, drop me a note via e-mail and I'll send you the original letter, as they left a few things out!

From Letters to the Editor - Courier-Post, April 20, 2005.

I don't know who Joe Walker is, but he sure pointed out things for what they are.- Phil

Re: "Baltimore should be a model for Cramer Hill" (editorial, April 11).

You mentioned that Baltimore's budget for relocation includes charitable grants. I have not seen any of these organizations come forward to assist Camden.

I believe the city would like to replace the current residents with "higher quality" ones who do not bring poverty, crime and apathy to their neighborhoods. You almost cannot blame Camden.

However, you should not treat people in this manner unless you want to repeat the integration problems of the 1950s and 1960s in reverse. Camden needs this last best chance of revival so it will no longer be a ward of the state. I assume merger with the surrounding suburbs is not an option.

It is in everyone's best interest to make this redevelopment a reality.

JOE WALKER
Camden

April 21, 2005

One person shot to death at Ablett Village, and another is in serious condition. OK, this is America in 2005, lets play Find Someone To Blame. In this case finding the Blamee is a lead pipe cinch.

A couple of years ago, HUD, the federal agency which sets rules and policies for public housing projects like Ablett Village, instituted a one-strike policy concerning drug offenses. The policy is if any family member is convicted of a drug offense during the term of the lease, the entire household is evicted, and must leave public housing. As public housing is a very limited resource with a long waiting list of families who could use the unit, this is a good thing, and the public has a right to demand lawful behavior from those who live in publicly owned housing projects. While this may sound harsh, this rule is necessary to ensure responsible behavior, and to deter inactive tolerance of and inactive participation is criminal behavior.

Needless to say, those “defenders of the people” South Jersey Regional Legal Services, popularly known as Legal Aid, continue to fight the Housing Authority of the City of Camden tooth and nail on this issue. Every time the Authority tries to better conditions in the projects by getting drug dealers out of them, SJRLS steps in to keep the drug dealers in. I don't know who they think they are protecting, I DO know that it SJRLS is NOT acting in the best interests of the residents of Ablett Village, Branch Village, Roosevelt Manor in particular, not to mention law-abiding people in the surrounding neighborhoods as well.

So let’s draw a straight line. Drug dealers are in the projects. South Jersey Regional Legal Services fights to keep households of convicted drug dealers IN the projects. Today, one person is dead and another is possibly on the way out. If there is blood on the hands of anyone in this tragedy it would be that of Olga Pomar and David Rampler of SJRLS, who by opposing the one-strike rule are actively promoting a sheltered environment to promote drug dealing within public housing projects. Undoubtedly if the management of Ablett Village would be allowed to evict families with convicted drug dealers, there would be less drug dealing there, and perhaps this tragedy would not have taken place. .

From Letters to the Editor - Courier-Post, April 20, 2005.

I don't know who Joe Walker is, but he sure pointed out things for what they are.- Phil

Re: "Baltimore should be a model for Cramer Hill" (editorial, April 11).

You mentioned that Baltimore's budget for relocation includes charitable grants. I have not seen any of these organizations come forward to assist Camden.

I believe the city would like to replace the current residents with "higher quality" ones who do not bring poverty, crime and apathy to their neighborhoods. You almost cannot blame Camden.

It is in everyone's best interest to make this redevelopment a reality.

JOE WALKER
Camden

April 11, 2005

With all the noise in the Courier-Post about how "the people".... and I am 90,000% sure it is a SMALL minority of people who actually live, WORK, and PAY TAXES in Camden, are upset and oppose the redevelopment that hopefully will take place, I thought I would tell the truth about who the winners will be if redevelopment, and especially the redevelopment in Cramer Hill, Bergen Lanning, and South Camden is stopped.

First and foremost, let's get out the dirty little secret that the so-called "million dollar drug economy" in Camden doesn't hold a candle to the "million dollar social services" economy which the real leaches and parasites depend on. Fix Camden and a lot of so-called activists would lose their meal tickets.... and let's get real, a meal ticket is what it has become.

In the old 8th Ward (the neighborhood centered around Broadway and Ferry Avenues), in North Camden, and in the court system in Camden, the same groups and individuals have been in place since the 1970s, running their programs, performing before the media, soliciting money, and so on. The only "empowering" ever done by these groups and individuals is to give people in the neighborhood the sense that they are helpless victims of a grand conspiracy, and that the "activists" are their saviors. It's very much like the movie Undercover Brother. Needless to say, in the 30-plus years this con game has been going on, things have not improved a whole lot in either neighborhood..... but OF COURSE that's not the fault of the activists, it's ALWAYS someone else's fault. There is always a cry for "social justice", which can usually be translated to more money.

A great many people profit off of misery in Camden, but mark my words, they are NOT who you think they are, for the most part. The blame in recent years has is given to George Norcross, Randy Primas, and Wayne Bryant. Assuming that was so, where is the proof? With the exception of Wayne Bryant, show me a conflict of interest or ANYTHING that would hold up in court. Show me the proof.... better yet, SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!

On the other hand, one can easily find out exactly how much taxpayer money has been given over the years to among others, Camden Regional Legal Services, Heart of Camden, North Camden Land Trust, and the once-great Camden Rescue Mission. One could easily find out how much real property is held... the track record is there. One could pretty easily figure out the effect on law-abiding, tax-paying, and child-rearing families that the activities of these parties have when they "empower" the addicted, the criminal, and the vagrant to remain where they are, doing what they do, neighbors be damned. Once law-breaking was encouraged in the name of civil disobedience. Today drug-dealers and pan-handlers own our streets. Many people who could leave the city did so. Of all this, who has profited? If Camden is redeveloped, who REALLY stands to lose?

The answer to the question of who stands to lose if Camden is redeveloped is those who have made a career out of "urban misery". If things are so bad in Camden, why are these people fighting tooth and nail, using lies, half-truths, and innuendo, to preserve the status quo? If things are SO BAD..... why are these groups and individuals determined to keep things as they are? If those "on the ground and in the trenches revolutionaries" haven't solved the problem in all this time, maybe it is because the "solutions" they have simply don't hold water?

Teach a man to fish, he can feed himself. Teach a man to beg.... teach a man or a child for that matter, to be dependent.... teach that all of ones problems are the fault of someone else..... and you have crippled someone. Those who have encouraged laziness and provided excuses have injured children and adults as much or more as if they had molested them.

Camden is a very sick patient in 2005. The patient is on the operating table, and let's get real, there is only one shot at saving the patient. The city is bleeding, not blood or money, but human capital.... intelligence, integrity, and ambition.... and unless the drastic surgery that is needed is performed..... unless the CANCER that has taken over much of the patient is cut out completely, the patient.... our Camden.... will never recover.

It Must Be Spring